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Hyundai Nexo: the SUV that could make the market for hydrogen-powered cars really take off

Let’s just get the Hindenburg references out of the way first, shall we? Because as soon as you tell someone you’ve driven a car powered by hydrogen, nine times out of 10 someone will mention the airship disaster within a couple of minutes. At most.

Car manufacturers, however, have looked beyond the 1937 airship disaster and started to dabble in fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) fuelled by hydrogen, as they attempt to find new ways of reducing CO2. We’ve already seen – in limited numbers – the Toyota Mirai, Honda Clarity and Hyundai ix35 on our roads, but these only represent a toe in the water (which, incidentally, is the only substance emitted by a fuel cell vehicle).

While the prospect of widespread adoption of FCVs is some way off, Hyundai is pretty serious about being at the forefront when their time comes. Serious enough to have developed its second commercially available FCV, the Nexo, arriving in the UK later this year.

Using hydrogen stored in three 52.2-litre tanks situated under the floor, the Nexo’s fuel cell stack combines it with air from its intakes and the resulting chemical reaction creates electricity that powers a motor driving the front wheels.

With energy also coming from regenerative braking, the driver has 181bhp at his disposal, which provides a 0-62mph acceleration time of 9.2 seconds. The Nexo doesn’t perhaps have the instant kick from a standing start that you find with a battery-powered EV, but it’s far from lacking in usable performance: the majority of our test drive was in highway conditions, and it cruised and overtook with alacrity.

It takes only five minutes to fill the Nexo's three 52.2-litre tanks with hydrogen, giving a claimed range of 497 miles

It was pretty darn quiet, too, with just a smidgeon of road and wind noise to contend with. And, as if to underline its clean-driving credentials even further, the Nexo also purifies the air around it as it drives, filtering out 99.9 per cent of the particulates from what it sucks in.

The Nexo none of the range anxiety associated with EVs: its vision of almost-silent, emissions-free future motoring comes with a 497-mile range (when measured in NEDC city mode), while a five-minute refuelling time means no hanging around for hours while it recharges.

Admittedly, the UK’s hydrogen refuelling infrastructure currently leaves a lot to be desired (fewer than 20 publicly accessible pumps), but if you’re based in or around London – or a couple of other H2 outposts, such as Swindon or Sheffield – it might just work.

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As a car with both eyes fixed on the future, the Nexo is also packed it with some of the latest semi-autonomous safety features, which includes self-steering lane following assist that keeps the car in the centre of the lane, without the need for humans to guide it. The car is meant to alert you 10 seconds after you take your hands off the wheel, but our test car managed to take care of all the steering for almost six minutes before it remembered that a human was supposed to be doing most of the work.

Throw in a highway driving assist feature that is a combination of adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist and city braking, and this is one very accomplished and self-sufficient car.

One advantage that the Nexo has over the Mirai and Clarity is that Hyundai has clad its FCV in the shape of an SUV, rather than a saloon, which will have greater appeal to consumers. Indeed, the exterior design has a lot going for it, with its sleek, unfussy, surfaces, wide grille, gently raked roof and integrated flush door handles for extra slipperyness.

The light, spacious interior features two large touchscreens, along with leather and (mostly) tactile plastics

Detail is also important in the Nexo’s interior, where we’re left in no doubt that this a car that is focused on the future, thanks to two touchscreens, totalling 12.3 inches in size, offering drivers a wealth of information – including a view from wing mirror-mounted rear-view cameras, showing what’s in the Nexo’s blindspot, as soon as the driver indicates. It’s a really neat feature that works superbly and genuinely enhances safety.

Hyundai has also upped its game in its use of cabin materials, employing leather and (mostly) tactile soft-touch plastics, but less convincing is the switchgear in the centre console: there are way too many buttons and knobs (contrary to the current minimalist trend that relies more on touchscreens) and the quality isn’t great. Eighties hi-fi systems spring to mind.

The interior is surprisingly spacious, though, thanks to the clever packaging of the hydrogen tanks, fuel cell stack and batteries: there’s plenty of room in the rear for adults and even 839 litres of luggage capacity.

The Nexo has a tall SUV body, making it more attractive than saloon rivals in today's SUV-obsessed market

There’s nothing innovative about the Nexo’s driving dynamics, sadly, but the handling is competent, while the ride coped well with the biggest test we encountered, motorway expansion joints.

The Nexo’s final price is yet to be determined, but we expect something in the region of the Mirai’s £66,000. That’s premium-brand money and many consumers will balk at paying that for a badge that is still gaining acceptance.

But this is a car that is ahead of its time, by some way, both in terms of clean motoring and self-driving technology. It might be gambling on the future, but it will consign concerns over hydrogen firmly to the past.